The four-star general, who arrived in the Afghan capital on Friday, faces a tough task to bring peace and secure a face-saving exit for allied troops fighting the Taliban, observers say.
Replacing the sacked US General Stanley McChrystal, Petraeus has said the war in Afghanistan --now well into its ninth year - is likely to get tougher before significant improvements are seen.
He arrives as deaths of US and Nato soldiers are touching record highs in intensified fighting, along with questions about the wisdom of committing such huge resources in manpower and money to what could yet be a lost cause.
The general wore military fatigues as he stood with the US ambassador to receive some 1,700 US diplomats and guests on the lawn of the sprawling US embassy in Kabul to mark the Fourth of July.
His appointment as commander of the 140,000 US and Nato troops in Afghanistan has been welcomed by local officials, including President Hamid Karzai, who is increasingly seen in the West as a loose cannon.
But analysts urged Petraeus to make immediate adjustments to rapidly turn around a war seen as bogged down to the Taliban's advantage.
“Petraeus must change the fundamental strategy of the war against the Taliban,” said parliamentarian Ahmad Behzad.
“A change in the leadership of foreign forces can only be effective if we see more serious steps taken against terrorists,” he told AFP.
McChrystal's reputation had suffered from the failure of foreign forces to secure the poppy-growing district of Marjah, in southern Helmand province, in a massive operation launched in February, said political analyst Haroun Mir.
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